Mini Survey on Communication Hurdles caused by the Pandemic - January 2022

The virus situation has put severe restrictions on travel to and from China. For companies with offices, factories, distributors, partners, investments, clients and/or agents in China, the decrease in travel impacted personal contact. Through this survey we would like to understand how these changes have impacted interactions and internal communication between teams/parties based in the Benelux and in China, and how this has influenced doing business.


We want to ascertain the extent to which travel limitations are posing difficulties to open and clear interactions between Benelux and China based teams. Also, we would like to find out which solutions are applied to reduce the risk of mutual distancing. Please support this survey by taking a few minutes to answer questions below. The outcome will be shared by the Benelux Chamber to the Benelux business community.

Answers will be dealt with anonymously. This survey is particularly designed for businesses with teams in both China and a Benelux country. More than one person in your organisation may fill out this form.

Five minutes tops!

                    



The Benelux Chamber of Commerce is the Benelux business platform in China. Its members, leading companies from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and China, share an active interest in developing trade and business in China and in the Benelux. The Chamber of Commerce is officially recognised and supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in China. 


Who are The China Trainers?


As experienced trainers and coaches of people who are professionally active in China, The China Trainers provide contextual understanding of China's business modus operandi and deliver practical support and tools in the fields of intercultural verbal and non-verbal communications. 




Lilian Kranenburg (left) and Lianne Baaij (right) are sinologists both with a long track record in giving intercultural business trainings to professionals from both China and the Benelux. Their goal is to increase participants' levels of cultural awareness and confidence to become sensitive and responsive team players. The China Trainers offer inhouse in-depth tailor made training sessions, but also a spate of webinars and e-learnings designed to cater to individuals who prefer to learn online.


Clients range from international business teams, SME's, sector branch and government entities, business education portals and Chinese organisations in the Netherlands.


Their website is currently in Dutch only, but their online webinars can be offered in English too.


The Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC) is the largest bilateral chamber of commerce in Belgium for companies engaged in business with or in China. Their non-profit organization has been established in the 1980s after China's opening up, regroups about 550 members and is based in Brussels, the heart of Europe. They aim to advance the economic, financial, cultural and academic cooperation between the People's Republic of China and Belgium by organizing seminars and webinars on a board range of informative topics, networking events, B2B matchmaking events, etc.


* Questions with a red asterix means the question is mandatory to submit the survey.

*1. Internal Communication Challenges: We are in close touch with our colleagues/partners overseas.
Agree
Agree a little
Disagree
*2. It is difficult for us to maintain a clear view of what is happening in headquarters/branch offices/the team on the 'other side'. Please state why in the last line, the answer can be long.
Much more than before
Somewhat more than before
Sometimes, but not substanially more than before
Less than before
Please elaborate:
*3. Travel restrictions between China and Benelux have made communication harder, in both directions.
Agree
Agree a little
Disagree
*4. How have the travel restrictions affected your overseas colleagues' ability to adapt to the new circumstances?
There is no problem, they continue as if the pandemic never occured.
We can see there are moments when they struggle to deliver the desired feedback.
They find it really hard to keep focused/keep in touch what is happening.

*5. Solutions: Which means do you preferably use to keep in touch with colleagues in China and the Benelux? (please indicate preference 1=most preferred, 5=least preferred - Drag the items to the boxes on the right to sort)

*6. Have you implemented any special measures to facilitate communication with your staff/colleagues overseas?
We have set daily timeslots for both teams to meet each other online. Anyone who wants to join can do so.
We hold weekly online meetings - the agenda is usually set before.
Before we start each meeting we hold a short round in which everyone can say something personal.
Frankly, we have kept to the same system - nothing much has changed for us.
Anything else, please state (answer can be as long):
*7. To understand the day to day dynamics of the team on the other side, how do you establish whether they are struggling with business diffuculties (either internal or externally) so you can offer support?
*8. How do you manage to connect with & motivate staff/colleagues from afar? (More than one answer is possible)
We keep in frequent contact; this helps to maintain a pleasant flow of communication and openness.
We regularly emphasise the good work they do.
We demonstrate the company's results against the expected performance.
We show extra empathy and understanding when one of our team members needs support (on a personal level).
We continue to offer extra training opportunities.
Anything else, please state:
*9. Do you ever organise online team building activities? If so, please share:
*10. In the long term, do you think that not seeing and meeting up with each other will have prolonged effects on the overall team spirit to an extent that it will negatively impact your business endeavors and success?
Yes, it will have a negative effect lasting fairly long.
We shall manage, but do recognise the challenges imposed on us by the restrictions.
It's a limited impact, we are not too concerned by this.

Thank you so much for your time!

 

As mentioned above, we shall not mention your name or your company's name. We do however need to know who has answered this survey to keep track of the number of participants. 

 

Please let us know who you are.
 
This question can be kept blank if you do not want to share this information.

To contact the Benelux Chamber of Commerce, you can email saar@bencham.org.
To contact The China Trainers, you can email info@thechinatrainers.com.
To contact the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC), you can email info@bcecc.be.
 
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